Monica Rosselli and Chad Paul Simmers
Alcohol is the substance most commonly abused in combination with cocaine. The present study sought to investigate the possible influence of alcohol abuse in memory improvement during abstinence among chronic cocaine users. Fortyeight subjects were selected and grouped as either cocaine only abusers (COC) or cocaine and alcohol abusers (CA). All subjects were undergoing treatment at a south Florida area residential drug rehabilitation program at the time of testing. Participants were tested at the second week of abstinence (early abstinence) and retested at 2 months (late abstinence). Findings demonstrated that cocaine participants exhibited a similar memory recovery profile in short term memory tasks independently of their history of alcohol abuse. However, significant group differences emerged in delayed memory tasks. On the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) delayed memory test the CA group performed significantly worse than the COC group with significantly less improvement in scores during abstinence as well. The reduced score enhancement during abstinence in the CA group was also observed in the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) delayed memory variables. The present study suggests that the use of alcohol in combination with cocaine may have an effect on memory recovery with specific impact over longterm memory tasks. These findings may have important treatment implications.
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